Encounter With the Wolfbats
by I should be working
Summary: Toza catches Korra sneaking around the pro-bending training rooms, but a waterbender comes to her rescue. AU where Korra meets the Wolfbats first.
1. Looking for the Bathroom

Faint echoes resounded off the walls. Maybe if she was quiet enough, no one would notice her –

"You there! Yeah, with the blue get-up!"

Guess not.

Korra froze mid-step and jerked her head to the right. Her eyes met with a disgruntled pro-bender far past his prime.

"This place is for competitors only. What do you think you're doing sneaking around like that?" he inquired, a suspicious look settling in his narrowed eyes.

First came a faltering "uhh," followed by her signature excuse: "Looking for the bathroom?"

The unamused man seemed about to kick her out of the stadium when a lofty voice spoke out.

"Cool it, old man. She's with me; just got a little lost is all."

Both Korra and the man turned to face the newcomer. He was a tall, dignified guy dressed in a brown and tan pro-bending uniform, his blue belt marking him as a waterbender.

The man sighed and turned his back to the two. "Great, another fan. Just get her out of my sight."

"Will do," the young pro-bender replied. "Let's return to the arena, my _adoring fan_."

Korra rolled her eyes at his remark, but followed him nonetheless.

"Hey, thanks for helping me out back there. I thought he was going to call the police on me for sure. My name's Korra, by the way."

"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Tahno; you may have heard of me before."

Surprise lit up Korra's features. "Wait, Tahno, as in the captain of the White Falls Wolfbats? _The_ Tahno?"

"The one and only," he replied with a smirk.

"I thought you looked familiar, but, wow. I saw you on the front page of the newspaper this morning, and now I'm actually talking to you!"

The girl's excitement entertained Tahno, and her essence interested him. She was definitely unlike all his other fangirls. He could sense a certain innocence around her; her enthusiasm was directed towards his pro-bending skills, not his looks that made girls swoon.

They had reached the locker room at the edge of the arena. Tahno introduced Korra to his teammates, Ming, earthbender, and Shaozu, firebender. Ming shook her hand in a gentlemanly manner, while Shaozu greeted her with a curt "hey." The two benders already had their helmets on and prompted the team's waterbender to hurry up and join them on the platform.

Tahno put on his helmet, taking care not to mess up his wavy hair, and said to Korra, "If you were excited before, just wait until you see me in action."

Korra let out a short laugh, trying to suppress the excitement she knew was brewing inside of her. She leaned over the railing, watching the Wolfbats descend to the stage. The crowd erupted in cheers, shouts, and the occasional boos. The Wolfbats and their opposing team, the Golden Temple Tigerdillos, made their way to the center of the ring. The match was about to begin.

* * *

I don't write often, so I hope that wasn't too bad. It's a one chapter thing for now, but I might add on to the story later?


	2. The First Match

The announcer cleared his throat before speaking in a booming voice, dragging out words for emphasis. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! Introducing today's face-off: on the red, we have the rugged, robust, tough as nails Golden Temple Tigerdillos!"

Cheers erupted from the crowd as three men waved to the audience. They were older than Tahno and his teammates – _probably more experienced_, thought Korra.

"On the blue, we have the fabulous, flexible, light as air White Falls Wolfbats!"

More cheers sounded out as the Wolfbats greeted their fans. Korra would have joined in on the shouting, if not for the announcer's previous comment. _Light as air? Is that supposed to be insulting or something? I mean, the other team seems to be rock solid. _Korra mused on his word choice until the jarring ring of a bell brought her attention back to the ring.

The two teams immediately started to barrage each other with elemental attacks. It quickly became evident to Korra as to why the announcer chose those specific words to describe the Wolfbats. While the Tigerdillos seemed more inclined to stand their ground, the Wolfbats moved constantly, dodging incoming attacks and backflipping off of the ring's ropes. Their nimble movements greatly surprised Korra, who thought pro-bending was focused on power and strength. She became entranced by the Wolfbats' captain especially, his agility akin to that of a rushing, winding river.

Back and forth, earth, fire, and water collided. Shaozu managed to push the Tigerdillos' waterbender back to zone three, but not before a water whip sent Ming reeling over the edge and plummeting into the water below. The bell rang as time ran out. Round one went to the Tigerdillos.

"Come on, Wolfbats! You can do better than that!" yelled Korra, hands cupped around her mouth.

With the ring of the bell, round two began with a bang as water and earth clashed. Ming seemed to want to get revenge on the opposing waterbender for knocking him off the ring last round. He was almost entirely focused on trying to push back his opponent, so when an earth disc went flying toward him, it hit him squarely in the side. His second of recoil was enough time for a second disc to send him back to zone two. Tahno scowled at him before knocking the opposing firebender back a zone with an arching blast of water. The round was halfway over; both teams had two players in zone one and one in zone two. Ming, recovered from before, sent an onslaught of earthen discs toward the firebender, pushing him back one zone, then over the edge with a powerful hit to the stomach. Shaozu and Tahno both sent their respective element crashing into the waterbender, who in turn accidentally shot a water strike at his teammate, sending him falling backward. Another Tigerdillo joined the watery brink, leaving only the earthbender in zone two. The Wolfbats advanced forward a zone, the clock quickly counting down; only a handful of seconds were left. The earthbender sent disc after disc at Tahno, who dodged with a backflip off the ropes and aimed a stream of water back, mid-flip. The last Tigerdillo fell off the ring, Tahno landed lightly on his feet, the bell rang, and the crowd went wild.

"Aaaand the winners are the White Falls Wolfbats!"

Korra practically fell over the railing in excitement. Her throat went dry with all the cheers she was yelling at the winning team.

"Did you see that, folks! What a show the Wolfbats brought to the stadium today! If they keep it up, they can say hello to a spot in the finals!"

After waving and smiling to their fans, the Wolfbats exited the stage. The rising platform brought them back to the locker room, and a very enthralled Korra. With eyes wide open and face beaming, she ran right up to Tahno.

"Wow, you weren't kidding! That was some amazing bending out there. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it."

Tahno couldn't resist pulling his trademark smirk as he talked to her. "Told you you'd be amazed."

Choosing to ignore what he just said, Korra continued, "Where'd you learn to waterbend like that? My waterbending teachers never taught me those kinds of moves."

He shrugged playfully. "A dash of practice, a pinch of good teaching, and an ocean of natural talent. Though, if you'd like to learn how a real pro bends, I could give you some _private_ _lessons_." He accentuated the statement with a raised eyebrow.

Korra crossed her arms and countered with her own smirk. "Way to be modest. And yeah, I'll take you up on those lessons."

With a brief goodbye to his teammates, Tahno led Korra back to the training room they first met in. He started off by correcting her posture – "Don't stand so heavily, you have to stay light on your feet" – and showing a few basic strikes. "The trick is to keep each stream fast and focused, though a few longer, curved shots mixed in makes for an unexpected attack." He had her bend water whips at the training dummies, and was pleasantly surprised at how fast she was learning. "At this rate, you might even be as good as me. Ha ha, yeah, just playing with you."

Korra was exhausted after bending shot after shot, but felt satisfied with what she had learned. The sky outside the arena was darkening, and she knew Tenzin would start to worry if she didn't return to the island soon. Tenzin, always there to rain on her parade when she was just starting to have fun. She smiled when she noticed Tahno walking toward her.

"Better than you expected, weren't I, pretty boy?"

He raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. "'Pretty boy'? My, my, is the water tribe girl developing feelings for me?"

"Yeah, you wish!" She was getting flustered, but desperately tried to mask it. "Anyway, it's getting late, and I gotta go. Catch you at your next match!" She departed with a single wave and sped out into the hallway. Tahno watched her run away, a genuine smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. This was one interesting girl.

* * *

The match took forever to write. It didn't help that I kind of forgot how the matches run. Apologies for any inaccuracies with the writing. Sigh, the next chapter has another pro-bending fight to write, too. It's a good challenge I guess.


End file.
